Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday stood proudly in the Capitol’s west foyer next to an easel shrouded in a black sheet and announced something no Colorado governor has since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. “It’s the first time in the history of the health exchange that rates are going down!” he declared. And, […]
health care costs
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
In a plan to set hospital prices, Colorado could see the mother of all health care battles
Colorado hospitals and state regulators may be about to launch into the biggest health care fight the state has seen in decades, over a detail in the newly announced plan for a public health insurance option. The plan would let Colorado officials limit what hospitals can charge to people who have coverage through the public […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s uninsured rate is holding steady, but a new study shows troubling trends in the state’s health care market
Bucking the national trend, the rate of people without health insurance in Colorado has held steady this year, according to a major new study released Wednesday. The every-other-year Colorado Health Access Survey found that a record-low 6.5% of Coloradans are without health coverage, identical to the survey’s 2017 finding and down from the 15.8% of […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Which was worse: A Colorado man’s bachelor party hangover or the hangover from his ER bill?
By Markian Hawryluk, Kaiser Health News Two days before his wedding, Cameron Fischer had one heck of a bachelor party, hitting a few bars in the Old Town section of Fort Collins, with his friends into the wee hours. The next morning, the 30-year-old IT professional from nearby Loveland woke up with a killer hangover. “I […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s reinsurance program could fall $50 million short next year, according to health insurer estimates
Update on Dec. 4, 2019: Since publication, The Sun has done extensive additional reporting that necessitates an update to this story. As part of reporting this story, The Sun asked Richard Rush, who has worked as an actuary for local insurance companies and who now works as a private consultant, to review the insurers’ filings. […]
Posted inBusiness, Health, News
Denver-area hospitals made a record $2 billion in profits in 2018, according to a new report
For 25 years, health care analyst Allan Baumgarten has been studying the hospital market in Colorado, and his new report will show something it never has before: Denver-area hospitals surged past the $2 billion mark in profits in 2018. The 27 metro-area hospitals Baumgarten includes in his report made just over $2 billion in pre-tax […]
Posted inHealth, News
How much does an ER visit cost in Colorado? It depends on where you go.
Take a deep breath and imagine an unpleasant scenario: It’s late at night, your kid is really sick and you need to go to the emergency room. How much are you going to be charged just to walk through the door? The answer, according to a new analysis by a Colorado nonprofit, varies widely depending […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
With objections from Canada and drug companies, Colorado’s plan to import prescription medicines could be in trouble
To Colorado officials charged with developing one of the nation’s first state programs to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, the announcement last month by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar seemed like great news. Not only was the Trump administration changing course after initially being skeptical of such importation schemes, but it […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Health care is a right, not just for the privileged
Sometimes you just have to take a leap into the unknown when you see that the status quo is simply not working. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt did just that when he signed Social Security into law. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson did the same with Medicare, which provides health care to all Americans […]
Posted inNews, Opinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Congress should save Coloradans from sky-high air ambulance charges
At the moment, Congress is considering the Lower Health Care Cost Act, proposed by the Senate HELP Committee. It is an important step toward protecting patients from excessive air ambulance charges. The draft bill would cap out-of-network rates to the local median negotiated in-network rate for the same insurer, thereby protecting patients with little negotiating power […]